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Academy Scholarships?

Posted on June 19, 2015 by in The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible.  Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloFrank Giampaolo

The XYZ Tennis Academy has offered us a scholarship, should we take it?

This is a touchy subject. Some of my best friends and lifelong business partners run successful academies. I am often presented business plans to open a full time academy, but I am convinced that a new blueprint is needed to ensure that each student is receiving the customized attention he/she deserves. I’ve opened and directed clubs and academies since the mid 1980’s. These include Vic Braden Tennis Colleges, the Rancho San Clemente Tennis Club and the Sherwood Country Club- some of Southern California’s most prestigious clubs. As a result, academies are very familiar territory.

FUN FACT: Since closing my academy and opening The Mental, Emotional Tennis Workshops our players have won 77 National singles titles since 2003.

Here are my feelings toward academies in this stage in my coaching career.

The Positive Side:

  1. Academies provide a terrific social environment for the players. The players can hang out with their peers of both genders.
  2. Players can experience the bonding of a team versus the individualism the sport often requires.
  3. A few top players receive free t-shirts, bags and sweats with the academies logo. Other players may receive a discount.
  4. Academies provide a convenient one-stop shop for parents. In essence, the parents can rely on others to organize and develop their child’s career.
  5. Academies should provide plenty of free hitting, off- court training options and match play for the motivated individuals.
  6. Live ball sparring. Players grow from the daily battle.
  7. Academies get players good. How good? With the rare exception, most attendees advance to high school varsity, top sectionally ranked and/or NAIA to Division 2-3 level college ball.
  8. Players experience many different coaches and coaching styles.

FUN FACT: Most juniors are not truly interested in putting the hard work it requires to be a national champion.  They are hobbyist. In that situation, academies could be the right choice. Remember, tennis is a terrific hobby.

SPECIAL NOTE: If your child is ranked higher than most players in the academy, you may be able to negotiate attending for FREE in exchange for attracting paying customers to the program. Also, some academies give every attendee a price break thus giving everyone a partial scholarship. That is, if you pay up front! Folks, that’s marketing 101.

The Negative Side:

  1. Most academies recruit their top players AFTER a quality teacher has developed the student’s skills.
  2. The paying customer should receive instruction equal to that given to the elite superstars, which attend for FREE. Unfortunately, in some cases, the experienced coaches are busy working privately with the non-paying super stars and NOT with your child.
  3. In the higher levels of high performance tennis, detailed customization of the lesson plans are required. For example, if a player has holes in their transition game, sending them down to court #6 to get in line with the rest of the group and hit forehands and backhands may not be in the student’s best interest.
  4. Paying customers do not progress at the quickest rate.
  5. Often they have to win to move up into the “higher” level courts. This forces the junior to choose outcome goals over performance goals. This means they avoid building their new weapons as they choose to use their old comfortable “flawed strokes” to try to win. This behavior stalls the exact progression you seek.
  6. A great young talent positioned in an unsupervised setting will often learn how to goof  off, throw their racquet, waist time, go for low percentage shots, over hit, and give half effort.
  7. Often inexpensive overworked introductory coaches are employed to oversee the paying customers.

 

FUN FACT: In the last decade, most park & rec’s, high school courts, apartment complex, college courts, country club and city facility have changed the name of their after school junior tennis program to an academy. It sounds more official, doesn’t it?

 

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Proper Nutrition and Hydration

Posted on June 18, 2015 by in Maximizing Tennis Potential, The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible.  Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloThe Tennis Parent's Bible by Frank Giampaolo

Just as proper nutrition and hydration are essential to maximizing athletic peak performance, poor nutrition and hydration can ruin any real chance of even reaching peak performance.

Athletes employing improper nutrition and hydration can expect:

  • Lethargic play
  • Decreased strength & reaction time
  • Low physical, mental & emotional endurance
  • Impaired concentration, reduced court awareness & problem solving skills
  • Emotional break downs
  • Delayed muscle repair and recovery

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
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Managing Without Guidance

Posted on June 17, 2015 by in The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

Managing Without Guidance

Would you expect a talented, beginner athlete to be a world champion without proper coaching? Not likely. As a parent, plan on seeking out assistance and guidance through this journey. In today’s world, coaching has moved past the athletic playing fields and into every aspect of life. One of the best kept secrets of the successful junior tennis champion is a knowledgeable, educated primary tennis parent.
Parental coaching can be done in-person, by phone, in groups or in private, customized settings. Wonderful skills can be developed through attending seminars, Googling topics of interest, watching the Tennis Channel, accompanying your youngster to college or professional matches or purchasing instructional DVD’s and books!
Serena Williams said her parents learned how to coach her by watching Vic Braden instructional videos. Seek out those who can help you make clearer decisions for your child and your family. Like gasoline and fire, your education can accelerate your child’s success!

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
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Return of Serve

Posted on June 16, 2015 by in Championship Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Championship Tennis.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

 

Championship Tennis Cover

Return of Serve Mind Set

 

Regardless of the type of opponent or a player’s style of play, the most important thing regarding the return of serve is to simply start the point. This may seem obvious, but unfortunately, most players are overly aggressive and try to end the point with their first strike. The psychological task on a return of serve is twofold. First, when returning first serves, the returner’s goal is to demoralize opponents by consistently getting the ball back in play. Big servers are accustomed to receiving free points. A steady return sends this message: No free or cheap points today. Also, the return of the second serve provides the opportunity to punish the server for delivering a weak ball. As mentioned previously, offensive, short-ball options may include crushing a winner, hitting a chip and charge, placing a drop shot, or using the side-door pattern.

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
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Cultivating Life Lessons

Posted on June 15, 2015 by in The Tennis Parent's Bible

The following post is an excerpt from The Tennis Parent’s Bible.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

Cultivating Life Lessons

Choosing to embark on this journey has lifelong benefits. It is widely known that having your child participate in the game of tennis is cultivating life lessons. Tennis is an individual, elite sport. Participation in the game of tennis breeds leaders. Congratulations for developing leadership qualities in your child.

The game of tennis teaches the ability to understand and develop the following traits:

1) Time management

2) Adaptability and flexibility skills

3) Ability to handle adversity

4) Ability to handle stress

5) Courage

6) A positive work ethic

7) Perseverance

8) Setting priorities

9) Goal setting

10) Sticking to commitments

11) Determination

12) Problem solving skills

13) Spotting patterns and tendencies

14) Discipline

15) The understanding of fair play and sportsmanship

16) The development of focus

17) Persistence

18) The importance of preparation

19) Dedication and self-control

20) Positive self-image

My favorite life lesson of the top 20 is persistence. As a coach, to see a talented player without persistence or the willingness to sacrifice and work hard is my worst nightmare! That is why at every level it is often the less talented who are willing to pay the price with smart work, and they have all the trophies!

“Nothing is more common than unsuccessful tennis players with tons of physical talent.”

Finding a way through a tough opponent even though you’re having a bad day is persistence. Staying in the right side of your brain even when things are clearly not going well is persistence. Staying engaged until the very last point is persistence. Now you know my favorite life lesson. What’s yours?

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
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Pre-Match Visualization and Imagery

Posted on June 14, 2015 by in Match Day Preparation, Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from Match Chart Collection.  Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloMatch Day Preparation by Frank Giampaolo

PRE-MATCH VISUALIZATION AND IMAGERY

Warming up doesn’t stop at the physical. Players need to build up their “wall of defenses” in preparation for the continuous onslaught of mental and emotional challenges that competitive tennis encompasses. What we think about often dictates what we create. A mental, emotional no-no is to obsess about the next opponent’s past success, ranking or seeding. Winning tough matches begins with a winning mind set.

Pre-match visualization topics are unlimited, but some of the best visualization exercises include the following:

  1. Perfectly executed primary and secondary strokes
  2. Top seven favorite perfectly executed patterns
  3. The three pillars of between-point rituals
  4. Successful patterns of play against the four main styles of opponents
  5. Preset protocols for common emotional issues

To learn more visit my book Championship Tennis (Human Kinetics Publishing or Amazon)

ASSIGNMENTS:

Begin your pre-match visualization by arriving on site early enough to set aside 20 minutes to mentally rehearse the performance goals you’ve been rehearsing on the practice court.

  • Start this self-hypnosis by seeking out a quiet area away from other competitors and distractions- with closed eyes; take several deep and relaxing breaths.
  • Then create a vivid mental image of numerous tasks being performed successfully. Let’s call this your positive movie. To build confidence and reduce pre-match stress, you should mentally rerun the “movie” several times to reinforce the positive thoughts.

Make a list of your Top 5 Visualization Rituals.

 

Positive constructive visualization actually trains a player to perform
the skills imagined without hesitation.

ntact: Frank Giampaolo
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Pre-Match Warm-Up Rituals

Posted on June 13, 2015 by in Match Day Preparation, Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from Match Chart Collection.  Thanks for visiting, Frank Giampaolo

Frank Giampaolo

 Pre-Match Warm-Up Rituals

Before each PGA tournament round, Tiger Woods warms up every club in his golf bag, just in case he needs it. In the high performance tennis world, players who routinely warm up both their primary and secondary strokes have a major advantage in tightly contested matches. Grooving fundamentals before a match is important, but let’s go deeper.

A first-set tiebreak can often come down to a player executing a winning secondary stroke such as a swing volley or topspin lob.  To confidently perform secondary shots at crunch time, without hesitation, stems from properly warming them up before the match. Players who neglect their secondary strokes have a very different mind-set when faced with the same exact situation. Instead of instinctively moving forward to hit the swing volley to take the tiebreaker, they hesitate and are caught thinking, “I don’t remember the last time I hit one of these? Can I make it? Should I go for it?”  Now guess who misses the easy shot, gets upset and blows another breaker?

 

Obviously, any stroke has to be developed on the practice court long before tournament competition begins. Once developed properly, it should be placed into your match day tool belt.

 

ASSIGNMENT

Make a brand new normal warm up routine. Leave the old school warm up routine behind and begin to warm up in the manner that you are expected to perform.

 

The 5 different forehands and backhands:

  1. Primary drive ground strokes
  2. High and heavy ground strokes
  3. Short angle/side door ground strokes
  4. Slice and drop shots
  5. Defensive lobs

The 3 different serves:

  1. Flat serve
  2. Slice serve
  3. Kick serve

The 5 different volleys:

  1. The basic punch volley
  2. The swing volley
  3. The drop volley
  4. The half volley
  5. The transition mid court volley.

The 2 different overheads:

  1. Stationary, service box overheads
  2. The turn and run, scissor kick overhead with movement

The 5 different approach shots:

  1. Serve and volley
  2. Return and charge
  3. Moon-ball approach to swing volley
  4. Traditional approach to volley
  5. Spot a vulnerable opponent and steal the volley

 

Let’s return to the golf analogy. Tiger Woods knows that each day’s course conditions dictate his upcoming club options. Within your tennis world, your warm up is often dictated by the style of opponent you’ll be facing in the up-coming match. For example, if you know that your next opponent is a Moon Ball/ Pusher, it might be wise to warm up your swing volleys, side doors and drop shots.

 

Often, what separates two talented players is the time and

energy put into properly preparing for battle.

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Equipment Preparation

Posted on June 12, 2015 by in Match Day Preparation, Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from Match Chart Collection.  Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloChampionship Tennis Cover

Equipment Preparation

Are you a serious competitor? If you are a serious contender, the following list of Match Day Equipment Essentials should be included in your bag (or with you) during competition. Circle Yes or No by the tools that are currently found in your racket bag.

MATCH DAY EQUIPMENT ESSENTIALS:

  1. Three rackets freshly strung and re-gripped.? Yes/No
  2. Extra sets of strings (your brand and gauge) and extra vibration dampeners? Yes/No
  3. A first aid kit composed of Band-Aids, athletic tape, elastic bandages, appropriate pain reliever, plastic bags for ice, liquid Band-Aid, hair ties etc.? Yes/No
  4. Extra shoelaces, socks, and shirts; and a fresh towel(s)? (You may need an extra towel to soak in ice water to cool you down in very hot temperatures.) Yes/No
  5. Water, sports drinks, fruit (banana), and energy bars/gels to be used as quick energy and/or to bridge between meals. ? Yes/No
  6. Performance goals, match notes and cheat sheets (Reminders). Such as: How to beat moon-ball/pushers, match logs for post-performance analysis, past opponent notes, to possibly assist with matches in future rounds. Yes/No

ASSIGNMENT:

Pre-Pack your tennis bag with the above Match Day Equipment Essentials that can permanently be left in your bag? List any essentials that you wish to add to your bag? Make a check list of your essentials and review before each match.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

 

Review and Organize:

Prior to your match: Review your list of the Match Day Equipment Essentials (Preferably the night before your match.) Pack your perishable Match Day Essentials the day of your match – ice, food, drinks etc.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

 

Plan to check and re-check your tennis bag long before you leave for the tournament site.
Waiting until the last minute adds un-needed stress that can steal your emotional energy before even getting to the tournament.

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
MaximizingTennisPotential.com
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Organizing Practice Sets

Posted on June 11, 2015 by in Match Day Preparation, Maximizing Tennis Potential

The following post is an excerpt from Match Chart Collection.  Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloMatch Day Preparation by Frank Giampaolo

Organizing Practice Sets

The art of winning tournaments begins with the science of organizing practice sets. To win an event, a player will usually have to defeat several types of opponents. Worthy adversaries will apply a variety of playing styles along with their own unique strategies, tactics, ball speeds, and playing tempos.

List the four styles of players found in tournament competition.

1.

2.

3.

4.

(Answer:  Hard hitting base-liner, Retriever/pusher, All-court net rusher and Drop shot artist)

 

Have you noticed a singular style of opponent that continually gets the best of you in tournament play?

(Example: Retriever/Pusher)

Now, begin organizing by looking deeper into playing practice sets. Develop and rehearse the actual patterns needed to defuse the exact style of opponent that sends you home early.

List 3 patterns of play that systemically pulls the crafty opponent out of their comfort zone.

1.

2.

3.

Examples Include: 1. Short angle/side door pattern, 2. Moon-ball approach to swing volley, 3. Drop shot to passing shots and lobs.

Readiness breeds confidence. Developing and rehearsing the game plans to defeat every style of opponent is essential to winning championships.

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
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Hydration

Posted on June 10, 2015 by in Match Day Preparation

The following post is an excerpt from Match Day Preparation.  Thanks for visiting, Frank GiampaoloMatchday preparation

HYDRATION

High-performance athletes seeking optimum performance understand the value of proper nutrition and hydration. Uneducated players skipping the pre match nutrition and hydration requirements can expect to fall victim to:

  1. Lethargic play, decreased strength and reaction time
  2. Low physical, mental, and emotional endurance
  3. Impaired concentration, court awareness, and problem-solving skills
  4. Emotional breakdowns
  5. Delayed muscle repair and recovery
  6. Serious risk of dehydration and possible heatstroke (with as little as 1 to 2 percent dehydration)

Now that I have your attention, let’s dig deeper into this topic.
Answer the following questions Yes or No

HYDRATION ROUTINES

  1. I begin hydrating the day before the match? Yes/No
  2. I hydrate after rising on match day? Yes/No
  3. I hydrate throughout the warm up routine and during the match? Yes/No
  4. I re-hydrate after the match to prepare for the next day’s match? Yes/No

 

ASSIGNMENT:

Proper fluid intake on a normal day is approximately 6-8 glasses of fluids (48-64 ounces).   On a training day, more water/diluted sports drink will be needed. The exact amount of fluid is specific to each individual. Fluid loss from sweat and weather conditions (cold, heat and wind) require additional fluid intake. The below chart illustrates how easy it is to stay hydrated with a healthy diet.

NOTE: If you have a medical condition check with your doctor about individual fluid requirements.

 

 

Contact: Frank Giampaolo
FGSA@earthlink.net
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